A plurality of mobile communication systems such as a cellular-phone system and a radio MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) are currently used. For attaining a further speeding up and large capacity of radio communication, lively discussion is continuously performed about a next generation mobile communication technology.
For example, in a 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) being one of standardization organizations, there is proposed a communication standard referred to as an LTE (Long Term Evolution) enabling communication using a frequency band of 20 MHz at a maximum. Further, as a next generation communication standard of LTE, there is proposed a communication standard referred to as an LTE-A (Long Term Evolution-Advanced) enabling communication using a frequency band of 100 MHz at a maximum.
In addition, in the LTE or LTE-A, there is studied adoption of a data transmission method referred to as an MBSFN (Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency Network). In the MBSFN, a plurality of base stations transmit data of the same content at the same timing by using the same frequency and modulation scheme. Data transmitted via the MBSFN may be referred to as an MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service). When radio signals from a plurality of base stations are combined, a mobile station improves reception quality.
With regard to the MBSFN, there is proposed a technology in which a mobile terminal receives synchronization information used to receive broadcast type data in an MBSFN area and searches for a cell in which the MBSFN area is configured (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-188612). Further, there is proposed a technology in which in addition to a serving base station in which a mobile terminal measures reception quality of each base station and which performs scheduling of the mobile terminal, other base stations selected according to the measured quality transmit broadcast type data (see, for example, International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2008/038336). In addition, there is proposed a technology in which for the purpose of reducing the number of cells to be measured by a mobile terminal, the number of adjacent cells broadcast as system information is suppressed (see, for example, International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2007/148911).
Incidentally, there is the possibility that when all base stations which exist in a certain area uniformly perform processing for transmitting data of the same content at the same timing, utilization efficiency of radio resources is reduced. To cope with the problem, among the base stations which exist in the area, the base stations which perform the foregoing transmission processing are considered to be limited to some of them.
However, in a mobile communication system in which base stations which perform the transmission processing and base stations which do not perform the transmission processing mixedly exist, how to control mobile stations which receive data transmitted through the foregoing transmission processing becomes problematic. Specifically, there is the possibility that the base station is incapable of smoothly controlling reception processing of mobile stations in a control method in which a mobile station and a base station which gives data of preferred reception quality to the mobile station simply communicate with each other, as in a technology disclosed in International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2008/038336.